India handed over two Fast Interceptor Craft (FIC) and other self defence equipment to Mozambique to assist in its capacity building as the Central African nation battles growing terror threats.
Naval ship INS Kesari entered Port of Maputo in Mozambique to deliver 500 tonnes of food aid as well as the defence equipment, under the eight edition of Mission Sagar by the Navy to assist friendly foreign countries in the region.
The beautifully handwritten note on the yellowing service record, compiled by the Punjab government in 1919 and now over a century old, is as brief as it is poignant.
In faded ink, the entry for Wasawa Singh, the son of Shera, a Jat from the village of Gaike in northeast Punjab, tells the story of a young life cut short in the service of an alien empire.
There are no dates, merely a rank — havildar, equivalent to sergeant — and the name of a unit, the 30th Punjabis.
This is the first time India does not have its feet on the ground in Afghanistan, as it evacuated all diplomats in August.
India’s decision to send 50,000 metric tonnes of wheat and life-saving medicines to Afghanistan through the Wagah border in Pakistan without conditionalities marks the first tangible engagement with the Taliban ever since it captured Kabul in August last.
By doing so, India is walking the talk on providing humanitarian aid to the nation that became a basket case following crippling sanctions and an international freeze on its assets. UN estimates suggest about 55% of the Afghan population, which would work out to about 22.8 million people, face food insecurity this winter.